


The Noodle Incident

by minkhollow



Category: Rent
Genre: Gen, hogswatchfic 2008
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-02
Updated: 2009-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-02 04:05:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkhollow/pseuds/minkhollow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which there are a series of meetings, most of which involve noodles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Noodle Incident

**Author's Note:**

> Written for yetregressing in the hogswatchfic 2008 exchange on LJ.  
> Characters belong to Jonathan Larson('s estate), not me.

Angel really doesn't like having to choose between food and medication, but it's one of the hazards of choosing to strike out on his own. He still can't quite believe that it took him dropping out of college, of all things, before his parents decided he wasn't worth supporting anymore - but he couldn't keep doing something that was emotionally draining, especially when it suddenly turned out he didn't have the kind of time to waste on it.

He's still not at all sure his parents were still listening, when he got to that part. But that's their loss, in the end.

Anyway, on this particular occasion, food's winning out. He can probably scrounge up enough from performances to pool with whatever's left and get some medication by the end of the month. But if he doesn't have some lunch, he may not make it through those performances, and no one in New York is going to give a shit about a passed-out street percussionist.

He heads for a small Chinese place, since the noodle bowls are fairly affordable (which leaves the prospect of swinging by a grocery for some ramen or canned food open), and sits down at the bar counter. There's a girl a couple of seats down, looking lost and scared and barely old enough to be let loose in the big city on her own - and two of the three, at least, Angel can identify with.

"You all right?"

The girl starts, then gives him a shaky smile. "I... yeah, I guess. I'm just... not used to New York yet, is all."

"It does take a while. Anything in particular bugging you?"

"Well, I did find a job, but... I didn't realise how far that money was going to have to go until just now. I probably shouldn't be eating lunch, at least not here, but I can't figure all this out on an empty stomach, and I don't want my parents to be right but I think they might be anyway and... I can't go back there."

"Now that, I definitely understand." Angel smiles, and scoots down a seat.

They talk for a while, in between ordering and eating their respective lunches. The girl, name of April, says she just finished high school, and had a big blow-up with her parents over where the rest of her life was going. Her father wanted her to get a 'useful' education; her mother wanted her to marry a nice boy who would be successful once he got out of college; she's an artist at heart, and wanted to go to school for that if college was going to be in the picture at all. When they wouldn't let her do that, she took off for New York.

"They're sure it's all going to end in tears," she says, poking at the last of her noodles with her chopsticks. "So I can't go back, since they'll take that as an excuse to shove me right back into what they want me to do. And if it does end in tears, well, at least it ends in tears on my terms and not theirs, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. And New York's not always the best place, but if you play your cards right, you'll get everything you want and more."

***

Angel and April don't see each other very often, but when they do, they make a little time to talk. Sometimes he wishes it was easier for them to keep track of each other, but he's moving around a lot, and between her job and all the work she does pursuing her art, it's no wonder she doesn't seek him out more often. She has a way of keeping herself busy.

When they do have time to catch up, they usually end up getting noodles at the Chinese place. Angel talks about the people he meets when he's out drumming and his latest adventures in self-designed clothes; April tells stories from the freelance photography gig she's picked up, including her far-off crush on the front man of a local band.

Angel can tell, the first time he runs into her after she actually gets to talk to the guy. She's positively giddy.

"And he wants to talk to me again, can you believe it? God. I just hope he doesn't think I'm a total idiot."

Angel smiles. "Well, if you've already met him once, I think it's safe to say he doesn't think that."

"Still. That was practically a professional thing - I took a few pictures, he kept talking between shots. This is... this is just us. The real world. Coffee, or a bar, or something. I won't have work to lean on."

"Maybe that's a good thing. If he still likes you after that, I'd say you're on to something."

April grins. "I hope I am. God, Angel, you should meet him sometime. He's hilarious."

"Well, maybe I will."

***

By the time Angel does meet Roger, though, he's a far cry from hilarious - and April's nowhere to be found. Mark explains the situation on the way out of the loft (for the time being, at least, he's headed in the same direction as Angel and Collins), and Angel's glad for the update, upsetting as it is.

"I don't know which of them got hooked first," Mark says, "but... it was pretty bad for a while. This time last year, they were so strung out I was afraid one of them had overdosed and I wouldn't know until they didn't wake up. It only got worse from there. The band chucked Roger in February, and somewhere in there one of them shared a needle."

Angel sighs. "I'd wondered what was going on. Last time I saw her, she was really out of it and wouldn't explain."

If he'd known, he... well, he would've strongly considered dragging her to rehab, at least. But the easiest way to get through on that is when the person's at least vaguely aware they need the help.

"Saw a few of her paintings in there," he adds, after a moment.

"Yeah. From before she was too high to work. Maybe if we can figure out how, we'll try to sell a few, but - that's about all we've got of her, now."

The next day, Angel takes Collins to the Chinese place, on the grounds that a late memorial lunch is better than nothing at all.


End file.
